The rise and fall of 99.1 WHFS

Well it seems the last bastion of hope in the DC/Baltimore area has finally bit the big one. 99.1 WHFS has been erased from the airwaves by the greedy corporate radio giant Infinity Broadcasting. The architect of such things as The HFStival & other great yearly events, HFS was more than just an alternative station. It was THE alternative station. I guess we could see the handwriting on the wall a few years ago when they opted to put the sad Sports Junkies on the air in the morning rather than the usual rotating hosts call-in show that was fun for all. From the early 80's until the late 90's it was the cusp of what was different & cool about music. When the Infinity team took over the ratings & mainstream "alternative hits" mattered more than the events, music & community. At least it ended with Buckley.

Goodbye Dr. Demento, Flashback cafe and all the events I'll never see again. Our time was sweet and I'll have a soft spot in my heart for you always.

Screw you Infinity, I hope your company fails and you all rot in hell!


Here's a couple of articles:

WHFS Changes Its Tune to Spanish
Alternative Rock Pioneer Targets Latino Audience
By Teresa Wiltz and Paul FarhiWashington Post Staff WritersThursday, January 13, 2005; Page A01

WHFS-FM, the Washington area radio station that was a pioneering purveyor of alternative rock to generations of young music fans, did a programming U-turn yesterday by ditching the genre for a Spanish-language, pop-music format that transforms it into the largest Spanish-language station on the local dial.
In an instant, the station abandoned the likes of the White Stripes, Green Day and Jet for middle-of-the-road superstars such as Marc Anthony, Juan Luis Guerra and Victor Manuelle.
The switch reflects both changing demographics and a corporate war of attrition involving Washington's two major radio station owners, Infinity Broadcasting, which owns WHFS, and Clear Channel Communications, which owns WHFS's chief competitor, DC-101.

Despite its self-proclaimed "legendary" status, WHFS (at 99.1 on the dial) has long trailed DC-101 in the race to win the ears of rock listeners in the Washington-Baltimore area. At the same time, Spanish-language radio is the fastest-growing format in the country, while alternative rock radio is a withering niche.
At noon yesterday, the station behind the HFStival, a popular annual concert, broadcast the late Jeff Buckley's 1995 hit, "Last Goodbye." And then came something that WHFS listeners hadn't heard before in the station's 36-year history as the arbiter of cutting-edge rock:
"WHFS transmitiendo desde la ciudad capital de America:
"Esta! Es! Tu! Nueva! Radio!"
"Transmitting from America's Capital City: This! Is! Your! New! Radio!"
Lanham-based WHFS is now "El Zol," where they're "siempre de fiesta" -- always partying. (Zol plays off sol, the Spanish word for sun, and is a station brand of the Spanish Broadcasting System Inc. which owns other "Zol" stations.)
Although radio insiders have discussed the likelihood of WHFS changing formats for many months, the switch came as a shock to former employees and fans who grew up listening to the radio station that, since the late 1960s, had gained a reputation as the place to go for new music. Radio stations often switch formats and often without promoting the change in advance.
WHFS was among a handful of stations that developed the album-oriented format: The music was alternative and free-form, featuring such groups as Led Zeppelin, the Who and Yes, but with the occasional bluegrass or other unexpected ditty. Disc jockeys weren't confined to the strictures of a corporate-mandated playlist. They played what they wanted.
Out of this freewheeling approach came the station's music festival, which grew from an offbeat spring event to a nationally recognized bacchanalia that last year drew 65,000 people to RFK Stadium.
"Certainly this will have major ramifications for new music in Washington, D.C.," said Seth Hurwitz, owner of the city's 9:30 club and producer of last year's HFStival, with featured 36 acts. "They were always the forerunner for presenting new music," said Hurwitz, who began his career in 1976 as a disc jockey at the station. "They were a vital fabric of Washington's culture."
WHFS began as a classical music station, then switched to pop music in the early-to-mid-1960s before turning to rock about 1968. The moves were orchestrated by Jake Einstein, who began as an advertising salesman and became one of the station's owners in the mid-1960s.


Hispanics tune to new HFS
Reeling rockers bemoan their loss
By Rob Hiaasen
Sun Staff
Originally published January 14, 2005

They had heard the news and wanted to hear the music, maybe catch some uptempo salsa to start their day for a change.

In the Baltimore office of the Mayor's Hispanic Liaison, staff members yesterday tuned into WHFS 99.1 FM - which Wednesday had dropped an atom bomb on its alternative rock listeners by switching to a Spanish-language format. They found a station called El Zol. Siempe De Fiesta ("always partying") is the station's new sunny slogan, but apparently it's not partying quite yet.

"We called over there to make a request," said Jose Ruiz, the mayor's Hispanic liaison. "But there was no one there who speaks the language!" He says the call was transferred until apparently out of frustration, someone at the station hung up the phone. "Amigo, it's insane! This is an insult. Come on!"

Ruiz, much more amused than angry, was also tickled to hear a morning announcer joyfully announce in Spanish, "Thank God, it's Friday!" then proceeded to give Saturday's weather. "Me, I thought it was Thursday," Ruiz said.

There were bound to be glitches given the seemingly overnight format switch. Change can be confusing and cruel - just ask WHFS rock fans, still reeling, wondering about the fate of their beloved HFStivals, Adam and Dr. Drew's Loveline, and the Sports Junkies (headed, perhaps, to mid-days on WJFK AM), sharing their pain with their parents, and signing an online petition in e-droves.

As of yesterday afternoon, more than 11,500 signatures were on the "Bring Back HFS" Internet petition, which also posted comments. "No reason to remove this station. This was our lives," wrote one fan. "My brother's in a coma and he always listened to HFS and it was the only thing he loved," said another. "This won't stand" and "This is not cool." There were other more pointed comments, but the message was clear: HFS was their station, so bring it back. But, despite its confusion over what day it is, 99.1 is now the El Zol show.

Infinity Broadcasting, which owns WHFS, offered these explanations. The reformatted WHFS does not yet have an on-air staff. For the first 24 hours, the station was simulcasting with other stations in the Spanish Broadcasting System, a Miami-based Hispanic broadcasting company that served as a consultant to Infinity. What listeners heard was a "Best Of" show from one of the network's stations where, perhaps, it was Friday.

As of yesterday afternoon, the station had stopped simulcasting. "Right now, we're just playing music," said Infinity spokeswoman Karen Mateo. The station plans to hire hosts in the coming weeks.

As for requests for songs by Victor Manuelle, Luis Guerra or Marc Anthony or anyone else, listeners should hold off for now."

The station is not taking listeners' requests at this time," Mateo said. "As we hire an on-air staff, that will be something that we will do."

While rockers lament the passing of a rock station (HFS stood for "High Fidelity Stereo"), others welcomed the change. It is the largest Spanish-language station serving the area's Latino population, an increasing number of whom are new immigrants. About 55,000 Hispanics call the Baltimore metropolitan area home, according to the latest census figures. Statewide, the Hispanic population grew about 15 percent between 2000 and 2003 to more than 262,000.

"I used to listen to HFS. I like rock, but I'm very happy to have the station," said Ives Martinez, president of the Association of Latino Marylanders of Anne Arundel County. "Hispanics need another media outlet to reach our community.

"It's also good for business, said Enrique Rivadeneira, who owns Latin Palace, a restaurant and dance club on Broadway, in Baltimore's Latino community. Rivadeneira is also the president of Baltimore's Hispanic Business Association.

"We now have an opportunity to do promotion and advertisement," he said. "We have struggled through without it. But for many of the small businesses, there are hundreds of them now, they can now use the radio as a medium to help advertise and promote products."

Others, however, want more than just music from a Spanish-language station. Carmen Nieves, executive director of the nonprofit Centro de La Communidad in Baltimore, says a thought-provoking talk radio show is needed. "That's way more important, educating them about laws and things that may have an impact on their lives," Nieves said. "I'm happy there's a radio station that will play music all day, but that's not what we need."If I want to listen to salsa, I'll put a CD on my stereo."

Staff writers Mary Carole McCauley and Kelly Brewington contributed to this article.